See What You Think: A recipe for problem solving | Mark Sylvester | TEDxFargo

[Music] September 1983 I'm a single dad working as a chef cooking for the Jesuit priest six days a week my day off is Saturday on this particular Saturday I go to a talk in Hollywood computer graphics art technology of the future speaking was art to rinse key and he's one of the guys that worked on my favorite movie Tron with him was David M he's the artist in residence at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory now see I thought JPL was just full of rocket scientists but here's this creative mind making these amazing images of space and together they demonstrate how computers take ones and zeros and turn them into three-dimensional images now remember this is 1983 there's no cell phones there's no internet no one's ever seen images like this before after the talk were invited to sit in front of this massive computer with this huge drawing pad and for a few minutes I get to use the first computer where I could actually see on the screen what I was drawing while I was drawing it I have never been so captivated in all my life I knew right then and there this is what I want to do I want to make images on computers well I'm thinking that how can I do this I'm a chef I don't I my images are made with meat and vegetables not ones and zeros well the next day I am at the Jesuit kitchen and father Tom comes up to me after lunch and says how was your day off I went to Hollywood I get to listen to these guys talk about computer animation I got to draw on a graphics computer that's what I want to do with my life I want to spend my drawing and animating images okay then how are you gonna make that future a reality I don't know what what am I gonna do Here I am overwhelmed by the scope of this future I desperately want with no concept of where to begin I was paralyzed father Tom reached out of my shoulder said mark breathe when you don't know where to begin start by making a list a list helps you plan to reach the goal it's just like making your menu and he led me over to the board where I normally drew the day's menu when he cleaned it off and he said okay who are you gonna call call I guess I could call the guys who taught the class great write that down and I could call the people who made the computer yep put that down too and I could call the guys who produced the event it went on and on like that until that board was covered with words and drawings and scribbles with the very next day I start calling everybody on that list the guys who taught the class the computer manufacturer everybody each call led to another call which set up more calls until before you know it I'm on the phone with Bill Kovacs the vice president at Robert Abel's a Hollywood production company that had worked on Tron and he's a pioneer in computer animation now I live in Santa Barbara and turns out we have a Santa Barbara connection Bill visits his family there on the weekends and loves it we hit it off instantly he invited me to come visit the facility next call my buddy Larry a local entrepreneur also fascinated with computers and I tell him you've got to come with me on a field trip to Hollywood see this computer animation company well we head to LA and on the tour were in this darkened room where programmers are gathered around a monitor looking at the 1984 CBS election graphics in 3d I am inches away I can't believe that just a few weeks earlier I was drawing on a computer and Here I am in front of a live animation production my future feels so close I can almost taste it walking out the door Larry says the opportunity here is limitless we should build our own production company yes we should so we invite build a lunch to thank him and tell him about our preposterous impetuous idea to build a production company in Santa Barbara then we had a crazy idea we proposed to him leave all this join us let's start a new venture she did and just like that wavefront technologies was born wait wait wait what just happened in less than an hour we went from fans of computers to energized entrepreneurs ready to seize the opportunity to work with the vice-president of an award-winning animation company there's just one problem I don't know how to build an animation company neither did Larry what are we gonna do we have no idea where do we start more paralysis and I flashback to standing with father Tom at that board with the words and the drawings and the scribbles and the deeper lessons that he shared with me that clicked and I realized that when you don't know where to begin picture your path and you'll own the outcome that insight inspired us to create a system we use to build our new company and fundamentally change how I solve problems to this day we all have problems in our life some of them are trivial and easily dealt with but what about the tough ones like wanting to change your career or starting an organization that's gonna focus on the environment or working with your community to solve some injustice many people would let the scope of those challenges stop them but it is worth your effort to focus on these these days everyone wants one-click solutions to life then with someone else to solve their problems but they're your problems to solve and your rewards to earn now with my background as a chef I think of problems as recipes they have steps a beginning a middle and an end and a list of ingredients recipes are predictable and reliable in this wonderfully creative playground creativity isn't an ability it's not an innate talent it's a mindset you choose to think to play to innovate without judgment so the next time you are overwhelmed with a scope of an amazing opportunity and you don't know where to begin I invite you to try my five step recipe it uses creativity to help you picture the path so you'll own the outcome I call it see what you think step one begin with a breath its first steps easy breathe and exhale slowly do it with me feels good doesn't it slow breathing calms your mind and nervous system long enough so you can make good decisions now you can explore whether that great opportunity is a good idea or not do you really want to solve the problem or should you let it go by if you choose to accept it then own it it's your opportunity belongs to no one else and when you own it you'll feel committed and ready to take the next step step number two dive in and discover chances are initially you won't know much about the problem much less how to solve it the hack is in recognizing that not knowing is actually a good place to start now you can learn everything there is to know about that opportunity look at it from every angle this is where the list comes in every question you have put it up on the board keep asking yourself what else is there to know what else I mean if you run out of questions here's a couple of ideas who could guide you what are you going to need to do to push your project forward where can you go for more information now what I also want you to do is then we're gonna take that list and then we're gonna move over to step number three which is cluster the chaos now you're gonna organize the list so you can make sense of that complexity now looking at that list there are some things they're going to be need to be done first second third and so forth and what I want you to do is draw a box and take and put we're gonna label those boxes who do you need to talk to what needs to be done and where are you gonna go for more information then put a box down at the bottom called the parking lot then take the first item put it into one of the boxes and then start moving all the rest of the items into the box until the list is completely empty then look at the parking lot because most things are going to be easy to organize some of them just won't fit at all for those put them in the parking lot you can deal with them later step number four make a map looking back at the clustered list considered which items to me do to be done first second and so forth here's where a picture helps you map out your upcoming journey start by drawing a curve line goes to the top of the page and then put a circle down at the beginning and a larger one at the top that bigger circle represents the big goal you're trying to achieve right the goal up in that circle then put today's date down in the bottom then looking back at your list ask yourself are there some clear milestones that need to be done if there are put those up on the path the milestone might be getting funding hiring an assistant getting a business license then look at the rest of the list and start putting items on the path and think about what order they're going to need to be in on that path now make sure everything goes onto your map now look at the parking lot are there some items there that belong on the path or do they need paths of their own step number five get up and go it's time to take the first step looking back at your completed map don't let it overwhelm you instead commit to taking the first step and when you do celebrate congratulations you've done one in a row each step along the path transforms you builds energy and momentum and as you continue along the path you're changing you're becoming a better version of yourself now I want you to take the map and put it up on a wall and each time you take a step mark it off now your path may change you're gonna take side trips we all do but keep track of them because they may lead to incredible outcomes of their own that's the recipe the next time you feel overwhelmed by the scope of a great challenge and you don't know where to begin see what you think begin with the breath dive in and discover cluster the chaos make a map then get up and go in a world where opportunities present themselves to us every day and you don't know where to begin picture your path you'll own the outcome thank you [Applause] [Music] you

Channel: TEDx Talks

Views: 3,868

Rating: 4.9298244 out of 5

Keywords: TEDxTalks, English, Life, Creativity, Goal-setting, Personal growth, Self improvement

Id: fMovlTfVHmQ

Length: 15min 26sec (926 seconds)

Published: Mon Nov 26 2018